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The oldest cold case open right now in Birmingham dates back to 1941. Ross and his partner in the cold case unit are working to crack these old cases with a new trick up their sleeves. They're producing a deck of playing cards. Each card will have a photograph of a victim and details about their homicide. Police will distribute the cards in jails and prisons, hoping inmates deal in new leads.

"While they're (inmates) playing, they can see it, read about it and even if they don't know anything about the case, a person they're playing with or another inmate later on may pick it up, read it and say, 'OK, I remember something about this case,'" said Ross.

Brenda Ward hopes that happens for her grandson's case. 19-year-old Rasheed Ward was gunned down in Ensley on June 17th, 2010. Brenda Ward loses sleep at night knowing his killer is still free.

"I find myself looking at every stranger saying, 'Is that the person that killed Rasheed,'" said Ward.

It's families like Ward's that motivate Ross. He's hoping the cold case deck of cards pays out in new leads. He looks forward to closing those cold cases.

"When we can go out to their home, sit down and say, 'We found your loved one's killer,'" said Ross.

The Birmingham Police Cold Case Unit is asking for input from family members of victims. To dwindle the open cases down to 52, Ross said the first families that reach out to detectives and ask to have their loved ones included in the deck will be featured on a card. To contact the Cold Case Unit, you can message them through their Facebook page.